how to log calories on night shift?

mtsvexe · March 2022

I work night shifts and I finish at 6. I try not to eat before sleep because I’ve read that it’s not good, but sometimes I have to. Whatever I eat after my night shift, is it better to log it into the calorie count from the day before when I started or from the new day? or does it not matter? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

Another question, if I eat before bed but I am still at a calorie deficit will I gain weight? Google results are showing me different answers to this
Thank you in advance

sijomial · March 2022

Eating before bed being bad for weight loss / fat loss is a myth.
Possibly based on stories from people not calorie counting who eat EXTRA food over the top of their daily allowance rather than eating late as PART of their daily allowance.

The extra weight of the food itself will of course still be working through your gut if you eat late and weigh yourself when you get up so maybe that tricks people who put far too much emphasis of the short term?

If you realise that fat gain comes from your body storing an energy (calorie) surplus then you will know that you can't gain fat when you are in a calorie deficit over an extended period of time. If there's no excess energy it can't be stored away can it?

As for logging - do whatever makes life easier for you. Sleep to sleep or midnight to midnight, doesn't really matter. And if you work to a weekly goal it matters even less.

nossmf · March 2022

I've done rotating shifts for two decades. I find it easiest for logging to obey midnight-midnight. Yes, this means you will likely have "days" which are lighter/heavier in calories, depending on when you eat during the night shift, but that's ok...if the week is consistent from one week to the next, you'll still be good.

As for eating before bed being good/bad, I think @sijomial answered it nicely, with one additional point to note: eating right before bed can cause greater chance of acid reflux during the night as the stomach produces extra acid to digest the food, which when lying down has the chance to flow up into the esophagus and cause a nasty burning sensation. Some people are never bothered by this; some are; and some aren't when younger, but become susceptible to it as they age (including me). Avoiding acid reflux is the reason I do not eat/drink anything but water within an hour of sleep.

debrag12 · March 2022

I work nights and always work to the 24hr clock. Whatever I eat I log for the same day. I find it easier that way as I don't work every night. I also eat before going to bed as that way I don't wake up hungry and I sleep for longer.

Dianedoessmiles1 · March 2022

i had worked nights, I started my food tracking in my own schedule, though I was course not eating til around 3 PM I still tracked it under breakfast, once I was done for the day I'd track (though it was often around 8 AM! I too agree, eating right before bed is not good for us, but for me a 2 hr window was only better since I had acid reflux.

Cheesy567 · March 2022

FYI, you can change the names of the meals in MFP to suit you. So, if breakfast, lunch, dinner etc don’t work for your routine or mindset, you can change it to how you think of your meals, or to time blocks like “midnight to 3am”

Bridgie3 · March 2022

mtsvexe wrote: »

I work night shifts and I finish at 6. I try not to eat before sleep because I’ve read that it’s not good, but sometimes I have to. Whatever I eat after my night shift, is it better to log it into the calorie count from the day before when I started or from the new day? or does it not matter? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

Another question, if I eat before bed but I am still at a calorie deficit will I gain weight? Google results are showing me different answers to this
Thank you in advance

Eat how you want to/need to eat, and your body will manage the rest. If you're eating less than you're using you'll lose weight. if you're using less than you're eating you'll gain weight. People finessing exactly when they eat I believe are finessing far too hard. Their body isn't magic. It can't disobey the laws of physics.

I was thinking, if your life is nocturnal, maybe switch your clock over to the time zone on teh other side of the world. Then you can just kind of pretend what day it is, and operate from waking up after the big sleep until you go to bed for the next big sleep.

?

All the best!

how to log calories on night shift?

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